Australian dollar fell off August 9 highs for the fourth straight session against its US counterpart, following earlier Australia data and ahead of US labor data later today. 

As of 03:30 GMT, AUD/USD shed 0.65% to 0.7221, with an intraday high at 0.7274, and the lowest since November 27 at 0.7220. 

Earlier Australian data showed the trade surplus shrank to 2.32 billion from 2.94 billion, missing estimates of 3.10 billion, while retail sales rose 0.3% as expected. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia voted this week to maintain monetary policy and interest rates unchanged at 1.50% as expected by market analysts for the 26th meeting in a row. 

Investors now await US data on private sector employment, expected with an addition of 195 thousand last month, down from 227 thousand in October. 

The productivity gauge is estimated with a 2.3% increase, up from 0.9% in the second quarter, while labor costs are estimated with a 1.1% increase, compared to a 1.0% drop before.  

US unemployment claims are expected to have slipped to 226 thousand, while continuing claims are expected with a 15K drop to 1.695 million. 

The ISM services PMI is expected to have slipped to 59.1 in November from 60.3, while factory orders are estimated with a 1.9% decline, compared to a 0.7% increase in September. 

Abu Dhabi-listed Agthia Group is intending to expand in the UAE and also in the GCC states, mainly Saudi Arabia.

The food and beverage company injects AED 150 million annually on its geographical expansions locally and regionally, according to CEO Tarek Al-Wahidi.

He said the size of his company’s investments in Saudi Arabia currently stands between AED 250 and 300 million.

The company has recently boosted the production capacity of its water bottling plant in the kingdom by 200%, to around 120,000 bottles per hour, from 41,000, according to the top executive.

Al-Wahidi also revealed that Agthia is working on a mega expansion project in Riyadh, which includes the installation of a new production line to be completed by the end of 2018.

The CEO said earlier the group planned to start operations in the Iraqi market and that it began production in its Kuwait plant.

Ripple fell about three percent, or $0.01 on Wednesday away from November 13 highs for the 11th session out of 18 amid a crypto selloff wave. 

As of 07:36 GMT, Ripple fell 3.03% to $0.34408, with an intraday low at $0.34003, and a high at $0.3558, with Ripple's market value now receding to $13.77 billion. 

Ripple is resuming its losses after marking second weekly losses in a row and the ninth monthly loss out of 11 in November. 

The Group of 20 has pledged on Friday after the Argentinean summit to regulate crypto trading in order to combat money laundering and terrorism funding. 

Earlier this month, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde suggested on global central banks and their respective governments the possibility of issuing their own digital currencies to make them more stable and controlled and accessible for all sectors instead of the current mayhem in that market. 

Lagarde believes that payments through digital currencies would be instant, safe, and cheap, and while they would be anonymous, central banks will keep a database of all payments, cutting out fraud and money laundering operations. 

The Path of Ripple

It's worth mentioning that Ripple was first launched on March 7, 2015, to start trading at $0.015, with the virtual currency losing nearly two thirds of its value by early 2016 to $0.0059, before rising 5% during 2016 to $0.0063, and then skyrocketing 28,000% to $1.748 by the end of 2017, before marking unprecedented highs in January at $3.30, then losing up to 90% of value on a violent selloff wave that stormed crypto assets this year. 

Ripple then reversed nearly 80% higher in only a few days in September on positive news for the cryptocurrency and its standing between major financial institutions, before joining a mass decline in the crypto market in recent days and weeks. 

Oil futures rose nearly one percent in American trade with US crude and Brent climbing off October 2017 lows, as the dollar index traded mostly flat, while the US market shuts down for the official holiday announced by President Donald Trump in honor of late President George H.W. Bush. 

As of 06:02 GMT, US crude futures due in January rose 0.81% to $53.68 a barrel, while Brent February futures rose 0.68% to $62.50 a barrel, as the dollar index inched up 0.03% to 96.99 away from two-week lows. 

Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said his country doesn't aim for a specific price for oil but rather to achieve demand-supply balance in coordination with other producers. 

UAE oil minister and current President of OPEC Suhail Al Mazroui said OPEC aims to balance and stabilize prices, noting the importance of reaching consensus between all members of the organization, and asserting the need to cut market supplies. 

Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said it's too early to say OPEC will cut output next year, adding to agreement has been reached on the size of such a potential cut. 

He added that Russia's position is the only hurdle to reach an agreement, with OPEC expected to delay a decision if Russia refused a large-scale production cut. 

Iran Sanctions 

Otherwise, as US sanctions went into effect on Iranian oil exports starting November 4, eight countries were granted waivers for 180 days, mainly China, India, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Greece, Taiwan, and Turkey, already the largest importers of Iranian oil. 

Prices hit 13-month lows recently on renewed concerns over a supply glut as global producers pump record amounts of crude while global demand weakens. 

Goldman Sachs expects the meeting to result in an agreement to cut output by 1.3 million bpd into 2019.